Post #389

Howdy, from the West Coast

29th April 2004, mid-morning | Comments (41)

I must apologise for my eight days of silence, but the move has left me with little time for blogging. Here’s a brief update on what’s happened so far:

Boston, for the weekend

An irish shamrock

Ethan and his lady-love were great hosts. Friday was rainy, Saturday was a scorcher, Sunday was so-so. I met: my first lesbians (lovely girls); Dan, of SimpleBits (lovely chap); and a guy called John, in a club:

John
Dances very close to Dunstan.
Dunstan
Moving slightly away Um, hello, do you know I’m not gay?
John
What?
Dunstan
I say, I’m not gay.
John
Are you serious?
Dunstan
Yes.
John
Oh my god, the only non-gay guy in the place, and I try to pick him up!
Dunstan
Well my friend isn’t gay either, so that’s raised your odds a bit.
John
Are you English?
Dunstan
Yup.
John
Watches Dunstan dance.
Oh my god, you are so English.
Dunstan
Er…

I also picked up my new laptop while I was in Boston, and am thoroughly enjoying it. However, I’ll write more on that another time.

San Francisco

A 360 degree view of San Francisco from Coit Tower
A 360 degree view from Coit Tower

So far San Francisco has been a city of beautiful women, Russian taxi drivers, Doug and Tantek, hundreds of homeless people, musical Mexican cleaners, steep hills, hot weather, boxing lessons, solitary meals, and handsome homosexual hairdressers accosting me on the street:

HHH
Ooh, are you a photographer?
Dunstan
Er, yes, I am.
HHH
That’s wonderful. What’s your name?
Dunstan
Dunstan. What’s yours?
HHH
*****.
Dunstan
Are you a photographer too?
HHH
No, just a terrible flirt, ha ha.
Say, how long are you in the city for?
Dunstan
Three months.
HHH
No way! Well then I have to give you my card, I’m a hair stylist, so anytime you need your hair done I’ll see you for free. And even if you don’t need your hair done, you should call me. *wink*
Dunstan
Umm, well, thank you, that’s very kind. Now I must get going.
HHH
Don’t forget: call me!

It seems I have become the gay equivalent of Catnip.

More to come

Some cartoons drawn on Post-It notes
Something I saw on a wall outside a Walgreens

And that’s about it for now. I’m still finding my feet with this Apple computer so I’m not really up to speed on productivity yet, but when I am I’ll get some more stuff posted.

For those who are interested, here’s a map showing my current location in San Francisco. If you’re in the neighbourhood, then drop me an email and we can have a drink or something.

Jump up to the start of the post


Comments (41)

Jump down to the comment form ↓

  1. Keith:

    Man I love San Fran. It's a great walking city and it looks like you're in a great location for that. If you get a chance and are in the mood for some cheesy fun (and some hot girls -- sounds like you might be ready for that) try the Fiddler's Green some night. It's not what you'd call "cool" as it's far to corny, but it's a fun time.

    Enjoy yourself man!

    Posted 20 minutes after the fact
    Inspired: ↓ Dunstan
  2. Seth:

    Your first lesbians!? I thought for sure they had lesbians in the UK.

    Posted 27 minutes after the fact
  3. Colin D. Devroe:

    Any chance of your header changing to a San Fran view? Hope you have a great time.

    Side note: You might want to get a tshirt that says - STRAIGHT or something. Cuz it would appear that you will be spending too much of your trip explain that very fact. Also - perhaps you come across as gay? Maybe grow a beard, eat some wild-game, and don't showever for a month or so. That should do it.

    Posted 37 minutes after the fact
    Inspired: ↓ Paul G, ↓ Dunstan
  4. David House:

    That Catnip link's a little wierd... forgot the closing quote? You may just have lost a paragraph.

    Posted 38 minutes after the fact
    Inspired: ↓ Dunstan
  5. Alex:

    A straight English country boy in SF ... sounds like a good title for a comedy ... ;)

    Posted 46 minutes after the fact
  6. Paul G:

    Nah, you should get a shirt that says "LESBIAN". That would be a more confusing and fun way to announce your attraction to women. Of course, you'd probably have to spend just as much time explaining...

    Posted 50 minutes after the fact
    Inspired by: ↑ Colin D. Devroe
  7. Dunstan:

    Thanks David, I haven't quite got used to the Mac yet and I keep finding things have cut and pasted in strange ways. All fixed now.

    Posted 53 minutes after the fact
    Inspired by: ↑ David House
  8. Geof:

    "... the gay equivalent of catnip." I am soooo glad that I am not eating my lunch at my desk today! :)

    Dunstan, perhaps a T-shirt emblazoned with, "I am a lesbian trapped inside a man's body" should be your garb in Frisco. ;)

    Posted 54 minutes after the fact
  9. Dunstan:

    Keith, the guide book says the Fiddlers Green is the "best place to meet an Irish person in San Francisco" :o)

    Posted 56 minutes after the fact
    Inspired by: ↑ Keith
  10. Chris Pederick:

    "It seems I have become the gay equivalent of Catnip."

    Hehe...classic quote, Dunstan.

    I must admit I have had similar experiences as a straight Englishman living in San Francisco, although apparently not quite as frequently as you.

    Enjoy your time in the city - I came over from London in 1999 and have yet to leave...

    Posted 57 minutes after the fact
  11. Dunstan:

    Colin, the header _might_ change, but I doubt it. It takes such a lot of effort to do that I don't think I have the time. Plus I like to see what's happening back home :o)

    Posted 1 hour, 2 minutes after the fact
    Inspired by: ↑ Colin D. Devroe
  12. Sian:

    Oooo the D-man has arrived, watch out San Fran! Looks like you're having a ball.

    Posted 1 hour, 11 minutes after the fact
  13. David:

    Just a warning. Since you are "the gay equivalent of Catnip", I recommend you stay away from Castro, the gay section of SF.

    Posted 1 hour, 33 minutes after the fact
  14. Chad:

    You have quite a knack for running into *interesting* people on your travels, don't you?? Keeps one from getting bored though, and makes for damn good stories....San Fran is a great town, lots of fun, you should go check out Muir Woods up near Marin (if I remember correctly)...a gorgeous place indeed, a man can get alot of thinkin' done there....

    Posted 1 hour, 36 minutes after the fact
  15. Lee:

    I really enjoyed SF, except for walking all those hills. Nice sunshine, but a lovely breeze to cool you down.

    Obviously you're a gay icon Dunstan, and you only had to go 3000 miles to find that out (to Boston). Lucky they didn't try to feel up your laptop is all I can say: AAAAIIIII YYYAAAA! They would have got a shock.

    Posted 1 hour, 54 minutes after the fact
  16. Lee:

    Oh, oh, maybe you need one of these: http://www.tshirthell.com/shirts/tshirt.php?sku=a138

    Posted 1 hour, 57 minutes after the fact
  17. Molly:

    I'm just happy the boy's finding out there are other things in this country than po' white trash and empty rivers. I'm just delighted that Dunstan will now have a huge repertoire of odd experiences - far more odd than anything down here in Tucson.

    Ah, the pressure's off, wshew!

    Molly :P

    Posted 2 hours, 8 minutes after the fact
  18. Jim:

    "It seems I have become the gay equivalent of Catnip."

    Ha! That's good stuff.

    Enjoy yourself. You're in one of my most favorite cities. I wish I were close enough to stop by and buy you a drink.

    Posted 2 hours, 29 minutes after the fact
  19. Todd:

    Welcome to the States Dunstan, have a lot of fun!

    Oh...and don't drink the water out there: <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20040429_1365.html"> :)

    Posted 3 hours, 35 minutes after the fact
  20. Rafi B.:

    If you ever come down to Texas, drop me a line!

    Posted 4 hours, 57 minutes after the fact
  21. Niket:

    This is what makes your blog worth visiting. I was getting impatient 'coz you didn't post for a while.

    Incidents like these happen with all of us all the time. More observant like Dunstan have the "gift" to pen it down and make even the most trivial into an event. And the way these incidents are written makes so much difference.

    Posted 5 hours after the fact
  22. Margaret:

    I'm surprised that this is the first time you've met a lesbian- I'm 14, and I already have a friend who's a lesbian (well actually bi, but she likes girls, so whatever). So sheltered, Dunstan! :)

    Posted 7 hours, 8 minutes after the fact
    Inspired: ↓ Dunstan
  23. Ethan:

    God, at least the British kid's finally out of the house. Shows up, eats all the cheese, complains that I don't spell "colour" correctly. Never mind all the posters of Queen Elizabeth that he strung up all over my kitchen.

    Sheesh. Never, never again.

    ;)

    Posted 9 hours, 54 minutes after the fact
    Inspired: ↓ Dunstan
  24. Chris Vincent:

    As it turns out, I *am* in the neighborhood!
    http://maps.yahoo.com/dd_result?ed=7c2LBeV.wilwL3tJAqLTPryO8DVBQ8hM5rvLKSUqsQ--&csz=Wichita%2C+Kansas&country=us&tcsz=San+Francisco%2C+CA+94109-1603&tcountry=us

    Posted 10 hours, 39 minutes after the fact
    Inspired: ↓ Dunstan
  25. Kitta:

    I now have a nickname for you Dunstan...

    Gaynip. :)

    Posted 13 hours, 29 minutes after the fact
  26. Dunstan:

    I know, Margaret, very sheltered :o)
    But 14 and she's already bi-sexual? Wow...

    Posted 14 hours, 11 minutes after the fact
    Inspired by: ↑ Margaret
  27. Dunstan:

    If you touch those posters, Marcotte, I'll send the Queen's Own Beefeaters around to drag you off to the Tower!

    Posted 14 hours, 12 minutes after the fact
    Inspired by: ↑ Ethan
    Inspired: ↓ David Barrett
  28. Dunstan:

    Fool! :op

    Posted 14 hours, 17 minutes after the fact
    Inspired by: ↑ Chris Vincent
  29. Andy:

    Britain didn't have any legislation on lesbians for ages because Queen Victoria didn't believe it existed. I'm sure Dunstan's simply a dedicated monarchist...

    Posted 15 hours, 36 minutes after the fact
  30. David Barrett:

    You should probably head down to Fiddler's Green after all. Bring those posters, put a Union Jack around your shoulders and start shouting "Rule Britannia!" as loud as you can. Then close your eyes and begin to sing your national anthem, sobbing along.

    I'm fairly sure whatever kung-fu skills you claim to have will be put to the test by flying bar-stools to the face.

    Enjoy the rest of your trip. :)

    Posted 15 hours, 55 minutes after the fact
    Inspired by: ↑ Dunstan
  31. Graham:

    Good to see you are having a wicked time :)

    I read that you were going to work freelance out there, I wondered if got a work permit or travelled on a tourist visa.

    I ask because I am planning to do a similar trip to Ocean Springs, MS.

    Have fun!
    Graham

    Posted 16 hours, 41 minutes after the fact
    Inspired: ↓ Dunstan
  32. Andy Budd:

    Sounds like you're gonna come back from SF a changed man ;-)

    Time to pop down to village books and buy a copy of "Tales of the City"?

    Posted 17 hours, 35 minutes after the fact
  33. Debbie:

    "...the gay equivalent of catnip." HA! Such good writing, Dunstan. Perhaps it's truer (?) in SFO if/because you speak the Queen's English. Throw out some cockney or whatever you call it from B'ham or Manchester, and things might be different. (I know about the American attraction to things Brit--I was married to one for a number of years.)

    Glad to see you're in such a fine SFO location. No doubt you're going to have excess fodder to write about and I'm looking forward to the reading and pics.

    All the suggestions mentioned above are good ones from my experience in SFO, but since you're in the vicinity, don't overlook Little Joe's if it's still there in North Beach.

    Deb

    Posted 18 hours, 37 minutes after the fact
  34. ColetasSoft:

    Dunstan, since it seems that just about every other "issue" has been commented on, let me recommend PTAssembler (or PTGui, a bit more user friendly, but with less options in the end, like the lack of layered PSD files, incluiding masks as output format) for stitching all your panoramic shots :-).

    Photoshop´s new plugin for panoramics is pretty good, but only if you took good care at the time you made the pictures (also, it really slows down when you work with large panoramics).

    Posted 22 hours, 7 minutes after the fact
    Inspired: ↓ Dunstan
  35. Dunstan:

    Graham, I'm here under the visa-waiver programme, and am officially indulging in a three month photography trip. I don't think there's any chance of getting a visa to stay here and just work freelance web dev, but they don't seem to mind the photography. I just said I was here to take photos to promote the US to the UK tourist market, and they waved me through.

    Posted 22 hours, 35 minutes after the fact
    Inspired by: ↑ Graham
  36. Dunstan:

    ColetasSoft, unfortunately those are both windows programs, and I'm a mac boy now. But thanks for the thought.

    Actually, I couldn't find any mac softare, so if anyone knows of any...

    Posted 22 hours, 36 minutes after the fact
    Inspired by: ↑ ColetasSoft
  37. ColetasSoft:

    Well, PTMac should come in handy, then... http://www.kekus.com/ptmac/index.html

    I have no experience with it (I´m a windows guy, heh), but from what I hear, I reckon it´s good.

    And while I´m at it, I´m also adding this link which is how I came to know PTAssembler: http://www.tawbaware.com/maxlyons/gigapixel.htm

    Posted 22 hours, 49 minutes after the fact
  38. Alastair:

    Polk Street! No way! That's where I stayed the last time I was in town! We must be brothers or something!

    Alastair (Dunstan's brother)

    Posted 1 day, 5 hours after the fact
  39. Ernie:

    Welcome to America, gaybait! :)

    (ha ha, I just wanted to use that phrase. Let me know if and when you want to hang out.)

    Posted 5 days after the fact
  40. Joe Clark:

    You are a cute, compact, fit young man with a tendency to photograph yourself shirtless. You have only now experienced the big city, and you're discovering pretty fast that:

    * Gays move to cities. It's straight people who can be happy in the country over the long term.

    * Cute, compact, fit young men are sought after by gay guys, and have been since time immemorial.

    * Older guys with rather skimpier dance cards are gonna be more likely to flirt with you (or, in the heterosexualist locution, "hit on you," since for straight people there are no increments between zero and one hundred percent where it comes to flirting).

    * "No" is generally taken at face value.

    What you may not be aware of is:

    * Many of those gay fellas (especially the older ones) would pay good money to watch you beat the shit out of a punching bag. "*I'd* buy the video" is what they might say.

    Welcome to the 21st century. You have nothing to lose but your naïveté.

    Posted 6 days, 6 hours after the fact
  41. Mark:

    I am not jealous of your travels one bit! (Quietly sobs in the corner)

    Posted 1 week after the fact

Jump up to the start of the post


Add your comment

I'm sorry, but comments can no longer be posted to this blog.